Cruel Illusions is a fabulous stand alone fantasy. There were some elements, especially towards the end, where I just wanted a bit more depth. When the dominoes are falling and all the kind of resolution and pieces are being introduced, I wanted to sink more into the developments. Into the consequences of thinking only of people in terms of monsters and heroes. This line which is explored between “who is the true monster?” is a major theme which I just wish we sat a bit more with. Parlando della componete romance c’è un triangolo amoroso ma non mi è risultato pesante o cringe, anzi devo dire che il romance è riuscito molto bene ma in questo libro ha veramente poco spazio quindi non spettatevi un libro interamente romance. Lexile ® HL720L The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics® Monster Progenitor: Numerius is the first vampire. In ancient Rome, he was a magician who studied Blood Magic and discovered the ability to gain immortality. He discovered that when the Blood Magic is pushed to its brink and all blood within a magician is used, it results in an immortal body, albeit one that must now eternally consume the blood of others to keep itself going, and if it drinks a person dry of blood, it will turn that person into a vampire too.

Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston | Hachette UK

This was a story of two halves for me. The first half was a four star read and I really enjoyed it and loved the characters and the plot. Then the second half came and it lost its steam. I lost interest in the characters and just didn't care much in the end. Deb’s footsteps move down the hall. She opens the door to the boys’ room, and their laughter weaves together like magic—like family. Vampires that want to be able to live with people without needing to kill them often take a willing host who allows them to feed off them. The competition has no real structure and is basically just a montage of every YA competition over the last 20 years. The Goblet of Fire hedge maze is in there, and so is plenty of Throne of Glass -esque tests and badly described combat. The pure confusion I experienced when I realised that this book is technically same universe as the authors other book I read?? I was like waittttt cool!This is an easy, predictable, digestible, vampire read with a creative magic system that focuses on magic shows as creating true magic. Ava and her brother have been shuffled from foster home to foster home after her mum was killed by a vampire when they were young. She’s always loved magic, clinging on to the illusions her mum showed her to keep her close, while simultaneously training with one goal in mind - to someday kill a vampire for taking her mother from her.

Cruel Illusions | Margie Fuston | 9781399711364 | NetGalley Cruel Illusions | Margie Fuston | 9781399711364 | NetGalley

So recently I found a wonderful book called Vampires, Hearts and Other Dead Things so as you do when you love a book, you immediately look up what else the author has done... and I was so pleased to find another new book coming, and quite soon. ava has been determined to avenge her mother ever since she was killed by vampires. then, the perfect opportunity arises when a troupe of magicians invites her to join them…as long as she can make her way through a deadly competition. Cruel Illusions is one of those books which consistently surprises you. There’s vampires and magic, family secrets and revenge. The magic was fascinating to me because it merges illusion magic with this idea of receiving our magic from the applause of others. People almost ‘feed’ our magic. This becomes a very interesting juxtaposition with the vampires. They obviously feed off the blood of others. Immediately, Cruel Illusions begins to complicate this dynamic. I wish the book really chose what it wanted to be a lot sooner as it felt like the author was trying to achieve too many things in just one book that the plot was quite off pace hence it taking 50% to get worth reading!! The story reallt got going by the 75% mark and i feel like it would have paid off better to be a duology rather than a standalone? So the 2nd half of the story had more time to be fleshed out and the whole competition hunger games thing coulda been even more and the fast paced ending coulda been longer, I did enjoy the amount of blood and gore in this book a lot it was cool af!At some point during all this she discovers that the troupe she joined doesn’t actually care about her and only wanted her because she’s Incredibly Powerful (but also can’t win a single fight without outside help) and also her shirtless crush Xander has been secretly dating Aristelle the Firebender this whole time! She’s actually like 50 years old and he’s 17 but it’s okay because she’s immortal and trapped in a sexy 16 year old body, and also she’s a girl. If she were a guy it would be gross. Anyway. Betrayal! Tragedy! HEARTBREAK!